June 25, 2013

Food Review: Studio Bomba & New Norcia Bakeries, Perth

As with every Tuesday, I met up with my lunch buddy today with the intention of shopping and trying lunch (with cake after) at a new spot in Perth. It was a cold, rainy day in Perth and we took a drive to Scarborough beach road to facilitate my lunch buddy's hunt for her first pair of Dr. Marten boots.

We had no idea where we were or what we were going to go for food or shopping, so when we got to the area, we decided to just drive around till we saw any shop or cafe interesting enough to stop for. It worked out really well, despite how flakey our plan sounds.

Studio Bomba was sitting quietly in its corner as we drove by, and we decided to pop in to take a look. Basically Studio Bomba is a cafe, store and art studio altogether in a quiet, unassuming shop. Serving little bites like macaroons, hand sandwiches and cupcakes with beverages, we decided it would be nice to have a cuppa while waiting out the rain.

As we took a look around the shop, we found plenty of lovely things like stationary, decorations, even bow ties and pop-culture posters. It was an eclectic selection of items to browse through - evidence of great efforts made to source these interesting things. If you ever need art supplies, or clever little things for your home, you will find it in Studio Bomba.

Our coffee arrived, with my lunch buddy's choice of a Snickers cupcake, recommended to her by the barista on duty. Coffee was well done, served in beautiful tea sets sold in the shop, and the cupcake was much lighter than expected, fluffier than the impression given when we first heard it was a Snickers cupcake.

We spent a good hour just chatting over coffee in Studio Bomba, and we also made a mental note of things we will be purchasing the next time we visit.

After finishing up in Studio Bomba, we continued driving along so we could shop for my lunch buddy's Dr Marten boots. She did eventually get herself a pair of sexy lime green boots, which I know she is going to wear to absolute death. We spent another hour just wandering around the shops, finding a particularly lovely paper store selling the prettiest feather mobiles.

We had no idea what to expect from New Norcia Bakeries when we walked in, but very quickly realised we were in the right place when we saw rows upon rows of fresh bread, pastries and cakes. As we took a seat outside (the sun came back out), we made quick work of the lunch menu and ordered our lunch.

I ordered a Sourdough Sandwich with Rare Roast Beef ($9.20):

Hands down, this was the best roast beef sandwich I have ever had. Ever. I have never had a roast beef sandwich that actually makes the roast beef the main focus of the sandwich, and this sandwich was absolutely spot-on.

There was a generous portion of rare roast beef, with the barest of lettuce, melted cheese and a hint of mustard between thin slices of sourdough. The focus remained on the roast beef, rare and perfectly soft between crispy bread. I don't have enough words to describe the quality of the roast beef in this sandwich, it was absolutely phenomenal. It was simple and straightforward, with no extra stuff, no sauce, no unnecessarily large amounts of vegetables falling out as I ate, no thin slices of dry beef.

Absolutely spot on.

My lunch buddy chose the New Norcia Chicken Burger ($14.50):

Again, it was a burger of tender marinated chicken, avocado, cheese, aioli and tomato with a side of house-made wedges. The burger bread was sourdough as well, made fresh in the store as with almost every baked good, potato wedges simple and my lunch buddy was very impressed by it.

Both our lunches were filling enough, but not too much of a portion for us to reconsider dessert, which was a good thing - we did not want to miss getting some fresh baked cakes.

Dessert was the highlight of our meal, other than my perfect roast beef sandwich. The pear cake was a crumbly, buttery cake of soft poached pear and nuts, the barest hint of chocolate chips. My lunch buddy took one bite, and proclaimed that it was the best cake she had ever had.

I have had my fair share of sticky date puddings and sticky date cakes, but this blew my mind. Sweet dates, macadamia nuts, walnuts encased in spongey cake, with a generous glaze of toffee that was not overtly sweet. It was a slice of absolute heaven for me, and I did not want this slice of heaven to end.

We both agreed that we have never had a better cake, and until we find a better cake this will remain at the top of our list. Our waitress was helpful and accommodating, recommending menu selections to us, and my lunch buddy even got herself two loaves of fresh bread to bring home. I think some would find that the food is a little over-priced, but I find that if I am paying for quality I don't really mind. Also, $14 for a perfect roast beef sandwich and a generous slice of lovely cake sounds alright to me.

To end our perfect lunch, we even saw a double rainbow on the way back home - I think we will be making many more trips back to Studio Bomba and New Norcia Bakeries in the future (next week!)